Fans have been waiting a long time for Sherlock Holmes 3 to hit the big screen, and it sounds like they’re going to have to wait even longer. In an interview with The Direct while promoting the new season of The Foundation, actor Jared Harris, who’s portrayed Moriarty in the Sherlock Holmes film franchise, shared a disappointing update on Sherlock Holmes 3‘s progress. Though the film is said to be actively in development, nobody has contacted Harris about the project. Harris noted that he keeps having to update his IMDb page to remove Sherlock Holmes 3 since he remains in the dark on where things stand.
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“Yeah. I mean, I keep taking that down [on IMDb] and someone keeps putting it back up,” Harris said. “I have no idea. No one’s talking to me about it. And I really wish people would stop asking me … It should be on there. I mean, no one’s talking to me about it. I have no clue.”
After 2011’s Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows earned $543.8 million worldwide, a third installment has lingered in development hell for years. At one point, Sherlock Holmes 3 was scheduled to come out in 2021, but it’s yet to come to fruition. More recently, things seemed to be moving in the right direction when franchise star Jude Law shared that there was a Sherlock Holmes 3 script, though he hadn’t read it.
Though things are taking a very long time, the team behind the Sherlock Holmes franchise remains committed to getting the third film off the ground. Series producer Susan Downey said last summer that the project is “still very much alive in our hearts,” expressing a desire to see Robert Downey Jr. and Law reunite as Holmes and Watson. She emphasized the key is figuring out a strong enough story that would warrant getting the band back together.
While Sherlock Holmes 3 remains in the works, it will likely be some time before fans get a chance to see it. Downey, of course, is going to be preoccupied with the Marvel Cinematic Universe once again, as his Doctor Doom will debut in 2026’s Avengers: Doomsday. There’s also the strong possibility that Downey will return for 2027’s Avengers: Secret Wars, meaning he could be too busy to commit to Sherlock Holmes 3 right now. Waiting on Downey’s Marvel obligations is familiar territory for the Sherlock Holmes franchise; the first two films in the series were released prior to The Avengers, and then Downey spent much of the 2010s reprising Tony Stark in various Marvel films. Based on the actor’s schedule, Sherlock Holmes 3 could still be years away.
That might explain why Harris hasn’t heard anything yet. Actors can typically be among the last to know about a project moving forward. Perhaps nobody has contacted Harris because nobody knows when Sherlock Holmes 3 would begin shooting, or the script is going through revisions and it’s unknown if Moriarty will have a role. While it’s unfortunate to hear Harris’ latest comments about Sherlock Holmes 3, they aren’t necessarily an indication that the film is in danger of being cancelled. It would be nice if Sherlock Holmes 3 could happen sooner rather than later, but for now, it’s still on the table.
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